Chapter 3: Family Dinner
"I'm so sorry about my Dad." Marie apologized to Jamie as they were walking to the school yard.
"It's okay, he was being a Dad." Jamie replied.
"What he did was wrong. He interrogated you." Marie then said.
"He just asked me questions about sports and my family." Jamie then said.
Jamie's cell phone rings as they walk into the school yard.
"Hey." Jamie answered with joy in his voice.
Jamie stops and his tone becomes more somber.
"You promised. You told me that you would be here tomorrow afternoon. I understand. Love you too, bye." Jamie said as he slammed his phone shut.
"Jamie, are you okay?" Marie asked concerned.
"I'm fine. I need to get home." Jamie said as he turned around and headed home.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Marie then asked.
"Okay, I'll call you later tonight." Jamie replied smiling.
"I'll talk to you tonight then." Marie smiled back.
"I'll call you." Jamie said as he turned the corner.
Marie goes to the schoolyard to shot hoops. When she gets home she's just in time for dinner.
"How was basketball with Jamie?" Kate D smiled.
"We didn't get a chance to play because Jamie got a phone call at first he was happy but, then he became really upset and left." Marie explained.
"Wash up for dinner." Lorraine told her.
Marie goes to the bathroom to wash up for dinner. Matt then comes in covered in dirt from head to toe.
"He needs to take a shower before he eats dinner." Marie commented as she saw Matt.
"What happened?" Lorraine asked him.
"I'm a kid, that's my job." Matt replied.
"Wash your face and your hands. Then change your clothes." Lorraine then told him.
"Dad?" Matt asked looking at Vinny for back up.
"Don't look at him." Lorraine then said.
Matt looks at Vinny again.
"Listen to your Mother." Vinny simply replied.
Matt sighs and goes upstairs to wash up and change his clothes. Everyone else sits down for dinner.
"Why did he look when I told him to change and wash up?" Lorraine asked Vinny.
"How should I know?" Vinny then asked.
"He always does that." Lorraine then explained.
"I haven't noticed." Vinny then said.
"I know that you notice him when, he always looks at you when I tell him something to do when you're in the room." Lorraine then stated.
"Lorraine, Baby you know I love you but, right now you sound paranoid." Vinny told her.
"I'm not paranoid." Lorraine said calmly.
"How was everyone's day?" Vinny then asked changing the subject.
"Fine." The kids answered at the same time.
"The usual." Matt said as he sat at the table.
"What usually happens that you come home covered in dirt from head to toe?" Lorraine questioned.
"Mom, I'm a boy and I'm nine. Stuff happens." Matt answered.
"What happened that you were covered in dirt?" Lorraine then asked.
"Stuff." Matt said as he had food in his mouth.
"That's so gross." Kate scoffed.
"That is gross. Matt, swallow your food before you speak." Lorraine then told him.
"Okay." Matt said with food in his mouth.
"Matt, what did your Mom just tell you?" Vinny then chimed in.
"Sorry." Matt answered after he swallowed his food.
"What happened that you were covered in dirt?" Lorraine asked again before Matt put more food in his mouth.
"We played baseball, football and kill the carrier." Matt then replied before putting more food in his mouth.
"What's kill the carrier again?" Kate asked.
"It's a football game where you tackle the person with the ball." Danny answered.
"Exactly." Matt agreed.
"Don't you do that in football anyway?" Kate then asked.
"Yeah but, kill the carrier is ten times better because, usually you don't have any equipment on when you play it." Matt then said.
"That's so stupid." Kate then said.
"It might be stupid but, it's a lot of fun." Matt then smiled.
"What happens when someone gets hurt?" Lorraine then asked.
"We stop playing." Matt then said.
"I mean, what happens when someone gets seriously hurt?" Lorraine then asked.
"That hasn't happened yet." Matt then answered.
"One time, a kid broke his leg when I was playing kill the carrier with a bunch of my friends." Danny said. (He hated being quiet for a while at dinner.)
"Did the bone break through the skin?" Matt asked with some interest in the story.
"No." Danny replied.
"Enough talk about kill the carrier. Let's have a real dinner conversation." Lorraine explained.
"About what?" Vinny then asked.
"Joey is starting to walk." Lorraine told them.
"Mom, that is so cool." Brian said sarcastically.
"It's cute. Watching Joey trying to walk to Sarah it brought back some memories." Lorraine said trying not to cry.
"You okay Lorraine?" Vinny asked her.
"I'm fine." Lorraine said choked up a little bit.
Everyone stares at Lorraine for a minute, and then they continue to eat their dinner.
